Cleaning device



April 26,1927. 1,625,930

P. E. ASTROM CLEANING DEVICE Filed May 14, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS:

1,625,930 April 1927' P. E. ASTRGM CLEANING DEVICE Filed May 14, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N V EN TOR. E5. Asl'r'om A TTCRNEYS.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS.

Aprll 26, 1927. P E. ASTROM CLEANING DEVICE Filed May 14, 1924 Patented Apr. 26, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

rnrna ELIS Asrnbm, or sometimes, swamnv.

CLEANING DEVICE.

Application filed May 14, 1924, Serial No. 713,819, and in Sweden May 22, 1922.

The present invention refers to certain improvements in the cleaning of bottles for beer, milk or similar liquids, wherein the bottles are first treated with steam and hot liquids (for instance a caustic soda solution) and thereafter cooled.

One other object of this invention is to provide means by which the bottles are gradually preheated before they are caused to pass through a bath of such a high temperature, that the bottles are cleaned and sterilized, and finally gradually cooled within the apparatus proper, to prevent: the bottles from being cracked due to a too sudden change in temperature.

A further object of" the invention is to provide means for preheating the bottles preparatory to their reaching the hot liquid by aid of the vapors created in the hot bath, said vapors being caused to contact first with the bottles only after the temperature of the vapors has decreased to'a rather low degree.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cleaning device which can be operated automatically in a rather simple and economical way.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the following description is read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

A preferred embodiment of the improved,

device is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation. Figure 2 is a plan view with the upper portion of the hood renewed.

Figure 3 is a front view with a portion cut away along the line 11 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale of a bottle box in closed position. Fig. 5 is a similar view as Fig. 4, but with the bottle box in opened position.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the said bottle box on the same plane as Fig. 3.

In the drawing 1 is a receptacle containin the hot liquid, as for instance caustic so a solution, which is heated by introduc ing steam directly into the upper portion of the receptacle through a steam pipe 2. 3 is an endless conveying chain to carry the bottles through the cleaning device, said chain running over sprocket wheels 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, arranged in pairs (only' one member of each pair is visible in the drawing). The chain moves upwards in a vertical or nearly vertical direction between the pairs of wheels 4 and 5, thereafter obliquely downwards into the receptacle 1, round the pair of wheels 6 arranged in the lower portion of the receptacle, then obliquely upwards out of the receptacle 1, round the pair of wheels 7 arranged above the receptacle, therefrom in a horizontal direction to the pairof wheels8, in a vertical direction down to the pair of wheels 9. and finally around the last-mentioned pair of wheels and in a horizontal direction back to the first mentioned pair of wheels 4. The conveying chain 3 hasa plurality of boxes 10, connected with-each other similar to the links in a chain and designed to receive the bottles which are to -be treated. In the drawing theboxes 10 are shownonly at various points of the chain 3, although in practice they, of course,- are uniformly distributed along the whole length of the chain. Within the loop formed by the conveying chain 3 there are provided guides 20,. 21 and 210 the guides 20 being situated at the station A-where the bottles are placed in the apparatus and the guides 21 being situated at the station B where the bottles, after treatment, are withdrawn from the apparatus, in order to be treated further, if desired. The guide 210 is situated at the point C, where the bottles are treated by means of a water spray so as to remove labels or the like. When a box passes said points A, B, and C, the box becomes opened,

so that the bottles can be respectively supa plied into the box, and treated all around with a liquid spray and removed from the box. How this operation of the boxes is to be performed will be clearly described here-.-

below in reference to the guide 210. As the operation will be quite the same at all the three guides 20, 210 and 21 it seems to be suflicient to describe it in detail one time only.

The upper portion of the receptacle 1 is divided into two compartments 22, 23 by means of a wall 24 of heat insulating ma- ;terial. The receptacle 1 may also be built in such manner that the compartments 22 and 23 are wholly separated from each other and their lowermost portlons pm only, where the chain 3 passes from the one compartment tothe other. The steam heating pipes 2 are arranged in the top of the compartment 22 near t e intake side, so that the temperature of'the caustic soda solutlon in the compartment 22 will be at its maxiwards moving portion of the chain "3. In

front of the supply station A the hood 26 is provided with an opening 260 to provide an entrance for the bases 10. Such hood serves to catch the steam discharged at the levelof the liquid in the compartment 22 and conveys it so that the bottles, before being immersed in the hot bath in the receptacle 1, are caused to pass through a successively warmer steam bath and accordingly are gradually heated to the temperature of the hot bath in compartment 22, the latter being at or approximately at the boiling point. By this means, it will be possible to feed the bottles into the apparatus at a rather low outer temperature without risk of smashing the bottles, when they contact with the hot liquid.

Above the conveying chain 3, between the pairs of wheels 7 and 8 and directly above the guides 210 there is in a known manner provided a plurality of pipes 26 with suitable nozzles for instance like those shown in the patent to Wright 757,535 for washing the bottles, after t ey have left the bath in the compartment 23. As the bottles ass station C, the boxes 10 become opened by said guides 210 by means of the bars 54, touching the guides 210, so that the bars 54 are raised, thereby causing the flaps of the boxes 13 to open, so that the bottles are uncovered. One bar 55 is arranged at each end of the boxes 10 and when not touching the guides 210 pressed down by a spiral spring 56, so that the flaps 55, which turn about hinges 57, are brought in the closed position shown in Fig. 4 to keep hold of the bottles even if in an up-and-down position, to permit the washing liquid in a more complete way, to wash the whole outer surface of the bottle and thus remove the label.

The washing liquid is preferably fed from a tank 128 arranged at the bottom of the machine, in which tank the overflow liquid is collected after droppin down from the aforesaid appliances an from which tank the liquid is pumped to the pipes 26 by means of a pump 29 driven by an electric motor 28. The supply pipe 30 from the pump to the pipe system 26, passes through the compartment 23 in the shape of a coil 31, whereby the dual advantage is obtained, that the liquid in the] compartment 23.bec mes. somewhat co led, and the washing liquid becomes heated. The washing liquid may be taken from any other source.

To the conveying chain 3 a stepwise movement is imparted in the direction of the arrow from a shaft 37 by means of a crank 39, actuating a connecting rod 40 which oscillates a rocking arm 42 on the shaft 41 of the wheels 8, said arm 42 being provided with a pawl 43 cooperating with a sprocket wheel 44 fixed to the shaft 41. The shaft 37 is revolved by means of a belt 83 and a pulley 38.

For removing the bottles from the machine, through an open ring 550 on the wall of the machine at the station B, the following device according to the illustrated embodiment, has been used. A double armed lever 47 is pivoted abouta pin 46 and at the end of its upper arm 48 it is provided with a roller 49 cooperating with the rocking arm' 42 by means of a spring 50 in such a way, that the oscillation of the arm 42 imparts a corres nding oscillating movement to the lever'4 The lower arm 51 of the lever 47 has a finger 53 which, when the arm 51 is moved in the direction indicated by an arrow, contacts with the bottle in the box 10 just opposite the finger 53 and pushes said bottle out of the said box. If the bottle should not be pushed out of its box 10, it will be carried away by the chain 3 back to the supply station A, where it may be removed by hand, should it not fall out by its own weight, when the box 10 in an inverted position travels between the wheels 9 and 4.

Experience has shown that even if the bottles are supplied to the machine at such a low temperature that the contents in the bottles are frozen, no breaking of the bottles occurs'when entering into the hot bath on account of the successive raising of thetemperature of the steam bath within the cabinet 25.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for treating receptacles, a tank adapted to contain a hot liquid bath and having a partition across the top portion, whereby the contents thereof are separated at the topof the tank and communicate only at the bottom of the tank, means for heating the liquid at the inlet side of the tank only arranged adjacent the top of the inlet side of the tank so that the liquid in the tank will be of a higher temperature on the inlet side than in any other part of the tank and of a gradually decreasing temperature from its inlet side to the outlet side, a hood above said inlet portion having a downwardly directed portion providin a passageway for the hot va ors gener'at in said heated inlet side, said hood bemg open at its lower end to allow the escape of the cooled vapors as well as the supply to the tank of receptacles to be heated, and

Ill?- neans for conveying said receptacles through said passageway from its open end to the inlet side of the tank and thereafter through said hot liquid bath to the outlet side of the tank, whereby the temperature of the receptacles is gradually increased from the open end of said vapor pasageway to the inlet of the tank and gradually decreasing from the inlet of the tank to the outlet of the same. 2. In an apparatus for treating bottles, a tank adapted to contain a hot liquid bath and having a partition of insulating material across the top portion, said tank being U-shaped in cross-section, whereby the contents thereof are separated at the top of the tank and communicate only at the bottom of the tank, means for heating the liquid at the inlet side of the tank only arranged adjaeent the top of the inlet side of the tank, so that the liquid in the tank will be of a highertemperature on the inlet side than in any other part of the tank and of a gradu-' ally decreasing temperature from its inlet side to the outlet side, a hood above said inlet portion having a downwardly directed portion providing a passageway for the hot vapors generated in said heated inlet side, said hood being open in its lower end to allow the escape of the cooled vapors as well as the supply to the tank of bottles to be heated, and means for conveying said bottles through said passageway from its open end to the inlet side of the tank and thereafter through said hot li uid bath to the outlet side of the tank, wliereb'y the temperature of the bottles is gradually increased fromtheopen end of said vapor passageway to the inlet of the tank and gradually decreasing from the inlet of the tank to the outlet of the same. 4

In testimony whereof affixed my signature.

PETER ELIS AsTRoM.

I have hereunto 

